by Chris Prystupa
Here’s one of todays top performers, Andrew Heiderstadt, who dominated his game one start. He spoke with us about how he felt, what he worked on and his goals for the summer season. pic.twitter.com/OkqhbuDmIQ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 14, 2022
It was a mid-week double header for Next Level and 17 Sports baseball as they went head-to-head at Cantiague Park. The first of two games was a low-scoring and quick affair as the game wrapped up in just a little over an hour.
Next Level sent starting pitcher Andrew Heiderstadt to the mound and he threw a scoreless first inning in his first outing of the summer. His counterpart for the 17 Sports, Timmy Mott, would also throw a zero in his first inning as well. The pair would continue to hold each other’s team scoreless through the first few frames.
In the bottom of the third inning, Next Level would wake up the bats as they put men on base and drove them in through a flurry of batted balls. Joe Leone scored Next Level’s first run on an RBI fielder’s choice and Jack Coogan followed that up with an RBI single of his own to give them a 2-0 lead. Christopher Sais joined in on the fun with an RBI single of his own and helped Next Level jump out to a 3-0 lead.
The score would remain the same throughout the rest of the game leading to a 3-0 final score. Andrew Heiderstadt pitched great, throwing five scoreless innings allowing just four hits with a couple of strikeouts earning the victory. He would turn it over to Shane Linett who picked up right where Heiderstadt left off, finishing the game and preserving a shut-out victory for Next Level. Timmy Mott would be tagged with the loss, surrendering three runs over five innings with a couple strikeouts.
FINAL(Game 1): Next Level 3
17 Sports 0 pic.twitter.com/gTChw9e5hx— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 14, 2022
In game two of the double header, 17 Sports started the game with Zach Schilling getting the start on the mound. Next Level would waste no time and in their first turn at bat as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead courtesy of back-to-back RBI singles by Chris Sais and Jack Coogan.
In the bottom of the second inning, 17 Sports would cut the deficit in half with a pop fly from PJ Daniels that fell in allowing a run to score off Next Level’s starter, Jacob Lee. The scoring would continue for Next Level in the top of the third as back-to-back walks and a throwing error on a fielder’s choice hit by Sais would allow a run to score making it 3-1. Steven Hardiman cashed in an RBI with a line drive single over the first baseman giving them a 4-1 lead.
In the top half of the fourth, a passed ball would bring Next Level to a 5-1 lead over 17 Sports and that would be all the offense in game two from Next Level. Later in the bottom half of the fifth, JR McCloskey would manufacture a pair of runs himself as he laced an RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch on the very next pitch thrown to cut the lead to 5-3.
17 Sports had their comeback halted in the bottom of the fifth. They couldn’t produce anymore runs leading to Next Level closing out the game with a 5-3 victory and Tuesday morning double header sweep.
